Gardenburger, Inc.
Annual reports, 1994–1996
We served Gardenburger (now a subsidiary of Kellogg) during the mid-nineties: years of fast growth, but also great volatility for the company; by year-end, their revenues were typically up, but profits and share price were down. It was while working on these books that we began to suspect that – especially during uncertain periods – the proper narrator for an annual was the CEO, not the marketing department. Accordingly, we counseled the company to replace the traditional operations section with an expanded shareholder’s letter.
1994
This annual, only Gardenburger’s third, had to balance two sets of concerns: those of the trading public, who hoped that this young company would soon develop into a mature business; and the Gardenburger faithful, who hoped that the company wouldn’t lose sight of its tradition of ecological and social responsibility in embracing fiscal responsibility. We made a humble but painstakingly detailed book, setting Michael Jones’ journalistic monochrome photographs against fields of color drawn from the vegetables used in the company’s products. The cover illustration, an interpretation of Jean-François Millet's painting The Sower, was done by our friend Paul Mort.
Operations
The book was printed on two different colors of recycled stock using a color palette drawn from the vegetables the company used in its products.
Financials
1995
1995 was a crappy year for Gardenburger. In fact, it may have been the worst year in the company’s history (up until that point, anyway). Yet, instead of shrinking behind opaque language and misleading graphs, they chose to engage the bad news up front, in a shareholder’s letter that begins on the cover, continuing throughout the front of the book – replacing the traditional operations review with a sober yet optimistic litany of the year’s successes and failures.
This book was featured in Graphis Annual Reports 4. Evidently, Kit Hinrichs didn't do anything that year, and they needed to fill the category.
Operations
Editorial emphasis this year was on the company's move into food service: they'd placed product in a number of fast- and semi-fast food chains nationwide.
Financials
1996
In 1996, Gardenburger shifted its marketing effort from food service to the retail channel. This was a strategy story, so we replaced the traditional review of operations with a large, plain-spoken shareholder’s letter, punctuated by Q&A sidebars to illustrate the forward-thinking stuff. Paul Mort drew from old-school grocery ads for his illustrations; accordingly, we built the book with sales bursts, dotted rules, and a liberal application of red. This project was done when McIsaac was a partner at The Felt Hat.
Financial highlights
Operations
Operations, continued
Operations, continued
Financials
Notes to financial statements.
